Newsletter 193

Walker Technology College

News Issue 193

Students PlayFootball with

Peter Beardsley

FEATURES

Pg 3 Headmaster NewsAnother busy term has begun withpreparations for GCSE and A Levelexaminations

Pg 4The first ever Walker Technology CollegeAcademic Awards Evening what a night!

Pg 18To some people it’s just a pitch, but to us, it’sthe end of a very long road.

Pg 20 English NewsHutton Roof provided theperfect setting for our second Writers’. Moreinformation on WTG

Pg 23 Fabulous new College jumpersYes, we have agreed to trial a newCollege jumper. Student voice is active inWalker

CONTENTS DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2012

Waiting on key days information

NEWS FROM THE HEADTEACHER

Dear Parent/carer

Another busy term has begun withpreparations for GCSE and A Levelexaminations andtarget setting at the top of ouragenda so the theme of my piecethis edition isachievement. Students have beenworking incredibly hard as the finalexaminations

approach and we wish them everysuccess.This half term so far we have beenreminding all students of ourexpectations for progress in English,maths and science.The expectation for achievement isfor all students to make 2 levels ofprogress by the end of year 9 anda 1 more level of progress by theend of year 11. These targets aremeasured from the student’sperformance in their KS2 SATs fromprimary school. I am including atable below for your informationshowing how this is broken downand I would urge you to speak withstudents regarding their targetsregardless of which year they are in.

To begin the conversation, all youneed is to recall their KS2 levelsfrom Primary school(which students should know) thenuse the table below as a guide.Many of our students do make 3levels of progress by the end ofyear 11 and this current year 11 willbe our best ever group.Some students will even make 4levels of progress. This is a fantasticachievement worth aiming for.

An example of expected progresswould be:A student came to Walker in Y7with a KS2 SAT score of a Level 4in Maths. This student is expectedto be at a level 6 by the end ofYear 9 (which equates to a GCSEgrade D) and a level 7 by the endof Year 11 (this equates to a Cgrade). This applies to English andscience also depending on theirKS2 scores.

Keeping with theacademictheme, I would

like to alsopay tribute to the

students and staffinvolved in a

most memorableInaugural Academic

Awards evening onTuesday April 24. Year 11 studentswere nominated in 15 categoriesfor outstanding behaviour andachievement over a five yearperiod. The evening was attendedby well over 150 proud relativeswho were delighted to see all

nominated students receive aglass trophy inscribed with theirname with winners beingrecognised on the College honoursboard and receiving trophies and£100 worth of prizes each.

I would like to finish with two otherspecial recent achievements wellworthy of note. The first byChristopher White 11C who notonly carried away 3 awards at theacademic awards evening but hasalso won the City of Newcastleachievement award and is due toreceive the Diana Award. Chris willtravel to Canary Wharf in London

on 2nd July to collect his award.Our many congratulations go tohim.The second is a remarkableachievement by Mr Dunlop whoover the Easter break set a targetof 24 hours to run from the westernend of Hadrian’s Wall in Bownesson Solway to Wallsend, a grandtotal of 84 miles. He managed tocomplete the run in 23 hours raisingalmost £1000 for St Oswald’sHospice in Gosforth during theprocess. Our congratulations alsogo to Mr Dunlop.

The first ever Walker Technology CollegeAcademic Awards Evening was held on

Tuesday 24th April. These awards have beendesigned to recognise and celebrate thetop Year 11 students who have maintainedoutstanding achievement and behaviourthroughout their time at the College. Staffin each faculty (and the three Schools)spent a great deal of time discussing theirnominations but eventually shortlisted threestudents for their award. Awards weregiven out in English, Maths, Science,Humanities, MFL, The Works, Expressive Arts,Boys PE, Girls PE, CCF, Learning Support,E-Learning and Grainger, Dobson andStephenson Schools.

All the nominees were invited to attend theceremony, along with their special guestsand all the winners wereannounced on the evening,Oscar-style with the opening of a gold en-velope. The nominees received a bespokeglass trophy and the winners received a £50gift voucher and a prize specific to theirsubject along with their

trophy. In addition, all winners had theirnames engraved on to our glass display inthe main corridor so that their achievementis visible to generations of students to come.

It is an incrediblehonour to benominated forsuch aprestigious awardand this year’sNomineesthoroughlydeserved theaccolade.Hopefully, thedisplay and theAward Ceremonywill inspire ourcurrent students to aim high and hopefullysee their efforts recognised in this way.

Academic Awards Evening

In April we also had our first everacademic award evening. I canhonestly say that this was one ofthe most memorable evenings Ihave had the pleasure of beinginvolved in at Walker school. Themain hall looked fit for celebritiesattending theOscars. I am sure that any parentsattending the evening withnominatedstudents will have beensuitably impressed. As ever, I wasincredibly proud of the Graingerrepresentation on the evening,even more so to see thatGrainger had the most studentsnominated across the 3 schools. Imust send out my

congratulations tothe all the Grainger nomineesand a special well done for the 4Grainger winners Toni Anne Stoorswas successful within the Worksfaculty, Esther Mbikayi in the Ex-pressive Arts faculty, Beth Mc-greevy in theE-learning faculty and

Matthew Carr forwinning the Grainger schoolaward. All are fantastic Am-bassadorsfor Grainger School and fullydeserving of of their reward.

Walker Technology Colleges’ firstever Academic Awards’ Eveningwas certainly a huge success,especially for Dobson School. Ihave to walk past the brand newboard on the way to my officeevery morning and it is so pleas-ing to see so many Dobsonnames etched into the board.Congratulations must go to thewinner of the Maths award, Jor-dan Rowland, from 11R. ConnorBourne (11K) picked up twoawards for Humanities and Sci-ence. Emily Wrightson (11K)picked up the Dobson awardand the Girls PE award; Zoe Wear-mouth (11E) was the recipient of

the CCF award and Laura Million(11R) had the honour of receiv-ing the Learning Support award.Well done to all for being etchedforever into Walker history.

Special mention must also go toRhys Anderson, JonathanKennedy, Daniel Rkman, Rache-al Lowrey, Beth Gent, Beth Rowe,Elliot Davies and Whitney Nolanwho were also nominated forawards but just missed out.

To win or be nominated for theseawards is a remarkable achieve-ment as you must show commit-ment over a five year period.Dobson would also like to pass ontheir congratulations to the

winnersand nominees fromStephenson and Grainger.

Congratulations to the followingstudents who were nominated foran award at the first everAcademic Award ceremony:

Matthew BrannanShanice WatsonTapiwa Majoni

Christopher WhiteRiley Ainsley

Kirsty-Anne OrmstonLucy Kirkbride

Katey FreemanRebecca Snowdon

This event was held in college lastmonth and recognised theoutstanding contribution tocollege life that these studentshave made! All students whowere nominated should feelexceptionally proud of their efforts,behaviour and conduct.

Particular praise must go toChristopher White. Chris WON thethree categories for which hewas nominated! An outstandingachievement and one that isunlikely to be matched in futureyears!

Heads of Schools Comments

Well, time has flown by so quickly,but in that time there have been somany good things to tell you about.Since the last time I wrote, we haveenjoyed possibly the best wholeschool fundraising event at theschool, certainly in the time I havebeen at Walker.

The recent, “Sports relief” day atschool not only saw the students getin- volved in thetr aditional non-

uni-form,

butstu-

dents be-

ca me in-volved in run- ningthe sports mile. I would like tothank all the students for making afantastic effort to raise funds for avery worthwhile cause. However, Iwould like to pay special thanks toChloe Falcon from 7W and LilaMerabet 7A who raised over£45 an incredible effort, well done(Lila is pictured with some of hersponsor money).

This term will also prove to be a busyone, but an extremely exciting oneto be at Walker School. Our year 7swill embark upon the traditional tripsto Hutton Roof, that I’m sure many ofyou reading this article will still re-member your own visits. Some of ourvery best yr 8 and 9 students will bevisiting Disney Land in Paris as a re-ward trip for fantasticbehaviour a trip I’m sure that theywill fully enjoy, I know Miss Bryant isvery excited to be going on.Another exciting evening fast

approaching and a date for your

diaries, is Wednesday 4th July whenwe have our final colours evening ofthe year.

However, as well as all of this excite-ment we also have our year 11s rightin the middle of their exam build upand some students have evenbegun their exams. In this extremelystressful period of time I would like totake this opportunity to wish all of ouryear 11 students the very best of luckin the upcoming exams. Rememberyou have possibly the best summerever fastapproaching, including the year 11prom. This yearscelebration is being held at theNewcastle Falcons rugby ground.This is sure to be a fantastic eveningand a great way to sign off for theclass of 2007.

As ever we always try torecognise the students that areperforming well at WalkerTechnology College. We try to dothis by awarding students with

“school commendations” forexcellent reports from the student’sclass teachers. This recognition alsocounts as a point towards thestudent’s colours points.

Over the course of the yeardepending upon the year group ofthe student there will be 2 or 3academic reports. Should thestudent receive a “schoolcommendation” for all of theirreports that academic year they willthen receive a “Headmastercommendation”. This is somethingthat all students achieving should beextremely proud of.

I will never get bored writing aboutstudents with excellent attendance.It is, as I have said in previous news-letters the best way to achieve. Thistime I am going to give the de-served recognition to a student inboth lower and upper school for ex-cellent attendance.

In Grainger Lower school I would liketo congratulate Bethany Martindalein 8A, as well as having 100% so farthis year Bethany also had 100% inyear 7 as well. Beth is the onlyGrainger student in lower schoolwith 2 years full attendance.  Notonly that but she regularly cheersMrs Ross each morning, Mrs Ross de-scribed Bethany as “A lovely girl whois always smiling and comes andsay's hello every morning”. Welldone Beth and keep smiling.

The award for upper school goes toJake Cook in 9W. Since joining us in2009 Jake has never had a day off.In that time Jake is alwaysimmaculately presented with anexceptional punctuality record.Thoroughly deserved. Well done

Jake.In recognition of the year 11students that achieved thisaccolade this year, we provided abreakfast surprise for 10 fantasticyear 11 Grainger students that hadachieved this honour. Not only didthese lucky students get to havebreakfast with me , but we were alsojoined in the Headteachers office byMr Collier himself.

GRAINGER SCHOOL..................

This term there have been manystudents that could be nominatedfor student of the term and recogni-tion in this newsletter. There are anumber of year 11 students that Icould have selected from for beingnominated for academic awards bythe various faculties across theschool. All of which would be thor-oughly deserving of this accolade.However, we have chosen a stu-dent from year 10.

This term our year 10 students haveembarked upon their first taste of lifeafter school when they completedtheir work experience. We have hadstudents working in primary schools,hairdressers, cafes and the army toname just a few. All students havegained a valuable insight into whatawaits after education. We alwayshope our students will go out andrepresent the college with pride. Iam delighted to say that all of ourstudents certainly did this.

The feedback we have had fromemployers has been fantastic. Thewinner of this terms award goes to ayoung man who clearly made a fan-tastic impression. The employeetook the time to feedback to us andI have included just part of theirfeedback, “

I would like to congratulate CallumWarner in 10L for being a fantasticambassador for Walker TechnologyCollege. You fully deserve to beGrainger’s student of the term.

My name is Jordan McGregor andI’m in year 8 and I was given theopportunity to visit the brand newOlympic Stadium in London alongwith 2 students from year 8: TonyForrest and Michael Gates. We wereaccompanied by two teachers, MrsKemp-Hardy and Mr Clews.The bus left Benfield School at5.15am, wowser! It took roughly 5-6hours to get to the Stadium. It was awonderful trip, filled with fun, excite-ment, and a lot of mug shots. Wearrived at the Stadium at about 11-12pm, and stayed there roughly 4-5hours.We waited outside the Stadium forabout an hour, where we receiveda Gold medal and an Olympic Stadi-um t-shirt to wear in and around theStadium. We were then arranged inour groups, where we walked up tothe Stadium.We all received a tour around thebeautiful Stadium in our groups,where we walked the full lap aroundthe track, and took a lot of picturesas momentums. We then got achance to fill ourselves up with over-priced food and drink, as well asbeing able to buy other momen-tums such as the Olympic mascotteddy bears, etc…We then got the chance to go backinto the Stadium to watch specialguest stars such as bands, and theWinners of Britain’s Got Talent Gym-nasts, Spellbound. There was alsoKatie Price talking about the Olym-pics with her son, Harvey.After the whole experience was over,we got back on the bus, ready forour long journey home, where westopped at the service station to geta Burger King. We arrived homeabout 10pm, ready for sleep and along lie in the next morning.Myself and the Students who visitedwould also like to say thank you to allthe staffs supervision and support.

We wouldn’t have been able to gowithout them.

  On Saturday 28th April a group ofGrainger, Dobson and Stephensonstudents had to be at the schoolgates for 7:45am to go on a real-lifearmy training camp in Otterburn. Itwas like something from a film withbig barbwire fences.

When we arrived there, our phonesand i-pods were taken and theyeven made the girls take their makeup off! Nightmare. Everyone had agreat time and we all tried are hard-est at everything that we wereasked to do. The purpose of the tripwas to try new activities and experi-ences to help build up a range ofskills that could be used in our dailylives.

We did five activities including rockclimbing, personal fitness test, anobstacle course, team building exer-cise and a very difficult listening exer-cise! The best thing about the daywas the obstacle course as it wasgreat fun competing against othersas individuals and in teams. Trying toclimb and swim across very difficultobstacles was so hard. The next daywe all had sore arms and legs. All ofthe pupils seemed to really enjoy itand through the different tasks thatwe performed, we learned somevaluable skills such as listening, com-municating and team-working.

..................NEWS PAGEGRAINGER SCHOOL..................

Maths success for year 8s!

Four Grainger bright young stars have shown just howbright they really can shine by sitting their GCSE Mathspaper in year 8! For the first year only, year 8’s havebeen able to sit the exam and this year Sarah Fiddes 8A,Chloe Gaul 8A, Jordan McGregor 8W and Chloe Clarke8W all sat their exam and achieved a C grade.

An absolutely fantastic achievement and is a justreward for all of the effort and determination they haveshown. The four are also superb role models anddemonstrate to others just exactly what can beachieved if you are prepared to put in the hard work!When questioned about the achievement, JordanMcGregor stated that, “he couldn’t believe it!”Congratulations to all other students who also took theexam and also achieved fantastic results.

9W vs. 9AThe battle continues!

On the 23rd March 2012, on the day of ‘Sports Relief’,9W and 9A went head to head in a series of sportingevents. An obstacle course on the school field wasready and waiting in anticipation of some competitivestudents. The atmosphere was electric as both formclasses were ready to win.

The events included the bean bag race, egg andspoon race, hula hoop, hula hoop skip, up hill bounce,relay, balance the ball, skipping, there was even asack race! In these events we saw some marvellous

talents shining through; like Jessica Monteith’s hulahoop skills and Dale Graham’s secret talent forjumping incredibly high and fantastically fast! CaitlinCrawford could talk the talk but when it came tobalancing an Easter egg on a tea spoon it kept onfalling off! She just couldn’t walk the Easter egg walk.Natasha White had a great go at the sack race butkept falling over, it was all in good humour and therewere lots of laughs along the way! Oh well, it’s thetaking part that counts.

Overall, it was too close to call. So, we decided thatwe were all winners as everyone got a lovelychocolate Easter egg out of it …YUM! Everyone had agreat laugh and got on brilliantly. It certainly made anice change from the usual registration!

GRAINGER SCHOOL NEWS PAGE......

In the last newsletter 192 I informedyou of our forthcoming World BookDay activities. One of theseactivities was called ‘Get CaughtReading’. This was a competitionwhich gave students a chance ofwinning a £15, £10 or £5 gift token.Students had to look at photos ofstaff and try and guess who washiding behind either a book orKindle.

I am pleased to tell you that threestudents correctly guessed alltwenty members of staff and theywere:-

Andrew Rames, 11W, 1st prize

Kyle Wilson, 9M, 2nd prize

Rebecca Musset, 11L, 3rd prize.

Well done to them, and all whotook part. We had a great WorldBook Day.

Darren Shan event atWaterstone’s bookshop

At very short notice I was informedof a competition which would re-sult in the winners being giving theopportunity to see the very popu-lar children’s author Darren Shan.

One of our students, ChristopherNelson of 8E submitted a story forthe competition. This resulted inour school beingallowed to taketen students to goand see Darren atWaterstone’sbookshop inNewcastle.

Mrs Blench and Itook the students:Lucy Thomas andCaitlin Crawford of9W.Christopher wasthe only year 8student.

The year 7 students were:- AlexEgglestone 7W, Courtney Harris,Kieran Saunders and JosephBuglass of 7E.Lila Merabet of 7A and BethTulloch of 7C.

Altogether about 60 students fromother schools in the city, as well asours attended the event.

There was a 30 minute questionand answer session with Darrenalso reading an extract from oneof his books.

Students had the opportunity topurchase books and have themsigned at the end of the session.

Lucy Thomas and Darren Shane

Darren writesmystery/thriller/horror stories. He iswell known for his books called

‘The Saga of Darren Shan’, andthe ‘Demonata’ series. If you’venot read any yet I can highlyrecommend them. He has also

written a book foradults, called ‘Lady ofthe Shades’.

GRAINGER SCHOOL NEWS PAGE...... Library NewsWorld book day, Thursday March 1st

Stephenson – Stand Out From The Crowd

As we begin the summer term, our minds turn to theopportunities that are available for students at WTC. Itseems that every year these opportunities increase,both in terms of the number and the significance thatthese opportunities make to our students.Obviously, the most important aspect of this is theGCSE examinations which many of our students arecurrently working towards. As Head of School, I visit ahuge number of classes on a daily basis and it neverceases to amaze me how much hard work, effort anddedication is given by both staff and students alike.We enjoyed our most successful year last summer interms of GCSE passes and we’re on course to betterthat this year. It goes without saying that this isexcellent news and shows the progress we continue tomake. In addition to academic issues, there are manyreasons to look forward to this term. The annualtradition of Year 7 students spending four days atHutton Roof continues and, as ever, I’m thoroughlylooking forward to my week, this time with 7O. Thereare Basketball and Tennis school matches; twotrophies which Stephenson won last year! It goeswithout saying that I’m hopeful that this success continues, we ‘Stand Out From The Crowd’ andStephenson retain both trophies. Year 11’ studentshave been putting the finishing touches to their firstYearbook. Professionally produced, the Yearbookcontains a personal message from every student andform teacher, along with lots of photographs andmemories from the previous five years. It will be awonderful keepsake for students when they remembertheir time at WTC.Also, the Year 10 students have just completed theirWork Experience. I am extremely proud of theirbehaviour, effort and conduct. They were a credit toStephenson and WTC and I’m sure they will havebenefited greatly from the experience.

As we approach the examination period, it is anextremely busy time for both staff and students. It isvital that students ensure they are up to date with allcoursework deadlines and are familiar with theirrevision and examination timetables. Can I askparents/carers to assist us by ensuring your child knowstheir course requirements and knows what is expectedof them. If you have any problems, questions orconcerns regarding your son or daughter please don’thesitate to contact any of the Stephenson pastoralteam, who will be happy to assist where possible.

Ping Pong Pride for Stephenson

Congratulations to Stephenson Schoolfor once again winning the TableTennis school matches competition.Well done to all who took part,ensuring that Stephenson retainedthe title which we won last year!

“Success at St James’”

Congratulations to Christopher White who was at St

James’ Park on 29th March to receive his NewcastleSchools Outstanding Achievement Award! Chris wasjoined by other winning students from across the city atthis event which recognises students who haveperformed exceptionally over the previous school year.Chris was nominated for not only having 100%attendance, but for also completing a Building Futurescourse at Newcastle University, raising fundsfor our Kenya trip, achieving a Grade Ain Maths, taking part in a CSV volunteercourse and also being SportsCaptain. It is an amazingachievement to receive an award ofthis calibre Chris. Very well done, youdeserve it!! Chris received his awardfrom Newcastle Eagles CoachFab Flournoy

Stephenson Attendance RewardNight

On Thursday 19th April, 30Stephe nson students enjoyed a film night inthe main hall, to celebrate their 100% attendance.It is essential for success at school, that attendance isas high as possible and as a College, we support manyinitiatives (such as this one) to try to impact upon at-tendance. Over a consistent period, all the students pictured,maintained full attendance and were rewarded withnot only a film in our main hall, but also free pizza,popcorn, sweets and pop! Both staff and studentsthoroughly enjoyed the evening, whichwill definitely be the first of many.Well done to all who attended!

STEPHENSON SCHOOL.....................................NEWS PAGE

STEPHENSON SCHOOL..................

MackenzieHeaney, 8C wasselected to playfor the Newcastle

Academy. He goes to theacademy every Thursday duringwhich time he not only playsfootball but also completes schoolwork. Recently Mackenzie visitedTurkey with the team. Here is what

Mackenzie thought about his trip.

“My experience in Turkey was great.I was selected to go though theNewcastle Academy. When wegot there we played some of thetop teams in Turkey, such as Fena-batchi and Galatasari. Both ofthem were very good. Althoughwe did not win the tournament, Iwill keep this experience with me.”

A massive pat on the back goesto Amy Redhead, 8O and KoreyYeoman, 7C for making it throughthe auditions for Walker’s Got Tal-ent. Stephenson School has its fin-gers crossed and wishes them thevery best of luck!

Maille Lunn, 7C was the lucky win-ner of breakfast for a week forchoosing the song to which hasbeen selected to represent thework of the MAD (Making a Differ-ence) Group. ‘You’ve got afriend in me’ was one of a long listof songs which had been put for-ward for the competition. Maillesaid:

“7C were sitting in the class thinkingof a song for MAD (the new namefor the anti bullying group) whenthe idea popped into my head for

‘You’ve got a friend in me’ fromToy Story. I didn’t think anything ofit until a couple of weeks later MrBurbeck told me I had won. I wasreally happy for my song to bechosen.”

...................NEWS PAGE

Diana Award Winner – Christopher White

‘The Diana Award was set up in 1999 to act as alegacy to Diana Princess of Wales’ belief that youngpeople have the power to change the world for thebetter.’ It celebrates anyone who has positivelyinfluenced others and inspirational young peoplefrom across the world.In July Christopher will go to Canary Wharf in Londonto collect his award. Chris won this award because ofhis outstanding ability to influence others, hisdedication to his studies, his charity work and hiscommitment to strive to achieve the best in

everything he does! Chris’ achievements have beenamazing this year and he fully deserves thisinternational recognition! Everyone in WTC andparticularly Stephenson School, are so proud, notonly of his many successes, but also of Chris as aperson! He is proof that with hard work, dedicationand perseverance, we can all make a difference toothers and achieve our goals.He is an example to us all!

Mr Robson

Army AwarenessCourse – Albemarle

BarracksApril 2012

Congratulations toMichael Eldred 10M,who was voted

‘Student of The Week’last month Aftercompleting a weeks’course at AlbemarleBarracks inNorthumberland.Michael was part ofa group of 20 stu-dents who workedwith the regular

Armyfor a week,

gaining an insightinto Army life.Michaelapplied himself toevery challenge,completed all tasksand demonstrated a

willingness to helpothers throughoutthe week. Well doneMichael!

STEPHENSON SCHOOL NEWS....

On Tuesday 1st May, Ryan Westwood and Josh McKaywith Christopher Barker, Owen Hayton, Dillon Topping,Peter Wilde, Brian Chinema and Karl Ridley took partin a football festival, held by Mrs Kemp-Hardy and MrElliott, for a group of year 3 classes. The boys taughtthe children a game called Treasure Chest, wherethey got put into groups and had to run to get ballsthat were in the middle and once all of the balls hadgone to the different groups and when one of us said

“treasure” they had to race to get the other groups’balls in less than 15 seconds and the group with themost balls at the end wins one point. All enjoyed theevent and the boys developed great leadership skills.Here’s what the boys thought:

“I was very surprised that the children listened to ourinstructions and played the game with the correctrules, they enjoyed the game and responded to ouractions.” Josh McKay, 8C

“I thought the children worked very well and liked thegame.” Ryan Westwood, 8C

“It was great to see the year 3’s having fun and it wasa great experience.” Christopher Barker, 8C

“I enjoyed taking part with the festival and joining inwith the young children.” Owen Hayton, 8O

“I liked helping the kids as I found it fun.” Dillon Topping,8O

“I enjoyed doing P.E. with the kids because it was a lotof fun for the kids. They seemed to enjoy it.” BrianChinema, 8C

“I liked helping the children as I found it was a new andfun experience.” Peter Wilde, 8O

“I enjoyed it a lot, the kids were fine and they listenedvery well and they found it fun.” Karl Ridley, 8C

Joel Woolf, 11M has been chosen to go to Paris torepresent Great Britain for the JKA Shotakan KarateChampionships. Joel will be completing with other

competitors from all over the world. Good luck, Joel.

Huge congratulations to Jessica Ingles, 7C who onceagain has achieved the most achievements awardsin Stephenson Lower School. Jessica continues toprove her worth to Stephenson School with her hardwork and determination to do well.

Picture needed

Giggles now open for fun and a chance to meetnew parents…

Giggles, Walker Technology College’s very ownparent and toddler group opened officially on

Friday 11th May. The session was wellattended and it was lovely tosee some old stu-dentsreturn with theirown children.

Giggles are aparent andtoddler group forchildren aged 0-5.

There are activities and toys to keep all your littleones happy and entertained giving the parents theopportunity to have a coffee and a chat with otherparents.Giggles are run by our year ten and sixth form childdevelopment group. The pupils are given theopportunity to help organise and run giggles as partof their course, bringing learning to life.Miss Goodwill with Ex Students

STEPHENSON SCHOOL NEWS....

..................NEWS PAGE

So much has happened to make mefeel extremely proud as Head of Dob-son School since the last newsletter. Do-bson students had a really successfulnight at the recent Academic Awards’Evening, being nominated for and win-ning a whole host of categories. Wealso sent a number of Dobson year 11students to a writers’ retreat in NorthYorkshire (please read the Englishdepartment’s page of this newsletterfor more information) and sent out ouryear 10s for a week of work experiencewhere we received some amazingfeedback. We also had a very success-ful run in Top Form, winning 3 out of the5 trophies and Miss Perkins’ year 7 classwere responsible for creating and per-forming the greatest Zulu dance in thehistory of Zulu dances (look out forthem in the first assembly back afterthe examinations).

Of course, there is more to look forwardto as we have 3 year 7 forms ready toexperience the wonders of Hutton Roof.In addition, our year 11s are ready tosay goodbye to Walker Technology Col-lege, but not before they do battle inthe exam halls, a battle where wehope they are victorious in bringingWalker Technology College their great-est ever examination results. Finally, wehave Walker’s Got Talent and Sport’sDay on the horizon, two events that wehope to paint blue, metaphoricallyspeaking.

A final thank you must go to all form tu-tors in Dobson who have really got themessage out to students about arrivingEARLY to school on a Thursday. Moststudents are sat down and ready tostart by 8 45am…amazing!

During the week of 23rd – 27th April,the whole of our Year 10 stu-dents successfully took partin a workexperience week.Massive congratulations to allfrom

Grainger, Dobson andStephenson whosucessfully completed theirweek in work.Below are some quotes to giveyou an idea of how it went forsome of the Dobson students. Asyou can see from the comments, ithas been a worth whileexperience and one that isimportant in every student’s schoolcareer.

Quotes in response to the followingquestions:

‘very busy life’‘It takes a lot of dedication’‘anything can happen’‘much harder than school!’

‘I love school!’‘to respect co-workers and others’‘I can do things I never thought Iwould’

‘can be stressful’

‘She was a pleasure to have; I wouldhave her back anytime’(Nicole Fenwick)

‘Happy, cheerful and enthusiasticyoung man’(Rees Cornwall)

‘Lovely attitude, all round veryenthusiastic and willing to learn’(Katie Halliday)

‘Luke has been positive all week. Ithas been an honour having him forthe week. Positive attitude, wouldbe welcome in our company’

(Luke Rocha)

Chloe Wright duringher work experienceat Barnardo’s whereshe also

volunteers and works with as ayoungcarer. Chloe isinvolved in documentaries, writingnewspaper articles and workingwith other young carers on a regularbasis.Dobson school would like to takethis opportunity to say a massivewell done to Chloe for hercontinued hard work anddedication with Barnardo’s.

9R – TOP KNOX ONCE AGAIN!!!

Mr Knox’s 9R have once againwon the Year 9 top formcompetition. It is an absolutely

out-st and-

ingteameffort

fr om Mr

DOBSON SCHOOL..........................

Chloe Wright

..................NEWS PAGE

It has come to our attention thattwo of our Year 9 girls LaurenLyddon-Slee and StephaniePatterson are both keen horse riders.They both ride on a regular basis atthe local Stepney Bank Stables. Bothenjoy jumping and dressage andhave competed and successfullywon rosettes for both events.Stephanie is currently taking herABRS tests in riding skills and stablemanagement and has reached alevel 5. Horse Riding as a sport takesa lot of hard work and dedicationnot to mention involves a lot of dirtywork when muckingout.Congratulations to both girls fortheir achievements in the sportso far.

Congratulation to 8K and MrReynolds for winning Top Form lastterm! It shows just how importantpunctuality and attendance are,since 8K won by just 3 points, with nolates or any absence in the lastweek of the competition. A singlelate would have cost them 10 pointsand they would not have won!

8K decided that Pizza and a DVDwas how they would spend theirwinnings, and they were even kindenough to make a £15 donation toMr Dunlop’s charity run with thechange!

Well done 8K!

DOBSON SCHOOL..........................

Lauren on Basil Stephanie on Wizard

Saturday 28th April saw 13 Dobsonstudents up early to participate inthe first Outreach Discovery Day atOtterburn Camp, inNorthumberland. They did a very fullday of activities including rockclimbing, fitness, command tasksand an obstacle course. Theprogramme is designed to bepersonally demanding and to buildon interpersonal and team work skills.Billy Brooke, 8E said “I really enjoyedthe rock climbing, and would nowbe much more confident to tryharder climbs in the future.”Natasha Straughan, also in 8Eadded “I really enjoyed the wholething – it was a totally newexperience . The teamwork taskswere great because it gave us achance to work together withpeople we didn’t know well atSchool.”

Students now have a one weekresidential programme to lookforward to, where they can furtherdevelop these activites.

Well done to all concerned.

Congratulations to Aidan Rocha,Jonathan Kennedy, Liam Thompson,Mark Johnston, Emma Kashila andPrincess Matende for making itthrough the tough audition stages

and securing a place at this year’sWalker’s Got Talent final…amazingstuff! We hope to repeat our successfrom last year when our very ownPrincess Matende stormed to victory.Also, back by popular demand, arethe two outstanding and extremelyfunny hosts, Mr Thornley and ME, yesme! It’s not about us though, it’sabout the kids!!

Pictured below are the majority ofthe 36 students in year 11 whorecently received a Head’sCommendation from Mr Collier forthree outstanding reports over theacademic year. This is a fantasticachievement and once againproves what wonderfullycommitted students we have inDobson School. As well as thehonour of receiving the Head’sCommendation, students alsoreceived a free breakfast in thecompany of Mr Hart and MrCollier…what a prize!

DOBSON SCHOOL NEWS........

Mr Jackson, thanks for being our formteacher, we will miss you when we’re gone. Love 11KThere were also some personalmessages:

‘Jackson, you area wonderful manxxx’ (DylanBonas) ‘Thanks foreverything, I haveloved beingin your form class x’(Beth Rowe) MrJackson is a lovelyman, he always hasa smile on his face, thanks for everything x’(Mia Green)

‘Mr Jackson is the very best of form teachers, witha cheery smile first thing on a Monday,thank you x’(Ciara McCrory)

‘I’ve loved being inMr Jackson’s formclass, he knowshow to have alaugh, thank you! X’

‘Had a great fromteacher, MrJackson. Canalways have a good laugh in themornings’(Liam Donaldson)

‘I’ve loved being in Mr Jackson’s form class. He’salways happy and makes everyone around him hap-py. Thanks for everything! X (Emily Wrightson)

Some of the things thatthe students had to sayabout Mr Clues;

‘Mr Clues, you thinkyou’re off Dancing on Ice! Mwah’

‘I love your ginger hair!’‘Your amazing Cluesy’‘Best form teacher ever’‘Thank you, love from wor Stevie’ (Rhys)‘Thank you foreverything you’ve done! You’re an amazing form

teacher’ (Charlotte)‘ Thanks for being a great form teacher’( Billie – Jo xx) “Thanks for Everything Amazing form teacher’ (Tasha xx) ‘Thanks

for being a great form teacher’(Chantelle xxx)

‘Thanks for being an amazing form teacher’(Becca xx)‘Thanks for being a great from teacher’ (Meg xo) ‘Mintteacher’ (Zoe xxx

Miss Aisbitt has beenHead of Science forlonger than our yearsin this school. She al-ways has a smile anda quirkyattitude and she al-ways puts 100% into herjob. Miss Aisbitt has tak-en our form class to four

top form wins over the last two yearsbyConsistentlykeep- ing our

uniform and 3p’s in check.Well Done MissAisbitt, here’s tomany years inthis longFulfilledcareer as aScience

teacher, cheers!Massive thanks from 11R

DOBSON SCHOOL NEWS........

To some people it’s just a pitch, but to us, it’s the endof a very long road.

After 4 years of hard work, paper work, meetings anddreams, the day had finally come to open our newpitch. This really was going to be the easy part, butalso the icing on the cake.

The 4 years of work included trying toget funding, which we finally managedto get, in the shape of £102,000 fromThe FootballFoundation, lengthymeetings to try and getplanning permission andmeetings with residents to checktheir opinion on theproposed build.

The rest of the money wasfunded by the college, with ahuge payment of £466,000,bringing the cost to a grandtotal of £568,000. This has nowgiven the College a top ofthe range fully floodlit pitchthat is of premier leaguepecification. This will provide the Collegeand the whole community with a much needed newplaying area for many, many years to come. Theproject was delivered on time and in true partnershipwith Newcastle City Council, Aura, The FootballFoundation, Sir Robert McAlpine and the PE staff allplaying key roles.

On the day of the opening we prayed for goodweather, our prayers were answered with aspectacularly sunny day that meant the officialopening could run without a problem. Our specialguest Peter Beardsley had kindly agreed to openthe pitch for us and spare us some of his time to joinin with the pupils.

We lined up nearly 50tudents along the walkway

to the pitch, so they too couldjoin in the celebrations and

also get to use the facility first.As well as Peter Beardsley ourguests also included Nick Brown

(MP), the College Governors,Football Foundation,

Northumberland FootballAssociation, local and nationalpress, former staff members and

many local residents from both afootball and non football

background.

COLLEGE..........................................................................................NEWS

Opening of our 3rd generation astro pitchThursday 15th March 2012

We had gatheredeveryone at theentrance to the pitch; nowall that was left was for MrCollier, Nick Brown and MrBeardsley to say a fewwords beforePeter was given the job ofcutting the officialribbon and opening thepitch.

Once this was done all of the 50 students,ranging from year 7, both boys and girls, up toour Academy squad, took part in some 7 aside football matches.

The best was yet to come for our students.

Not only did Peter Beardsley open our pitch,but he also joined in our football matches fornearly an hour, and didn’t hold back. For theguests and teachers watching from the side, itwas a picture to see the delight on thestudent’s faces, at being tackled by one ofNewcastle United and England’s greatesteverplayers, especially on our own college pitch.This is one experience, I think, that will beremembered forever by all of our luckystudents that were involved in the day.

The day will also be remembered by Mr Couldwell,who put in every bit of hard work to make thisdream of 4 years come to reality, he also gave awell deserved and well delivered interview to thelocal TV.

Can I finish by saying a huge thank you to everyoneinvolved in the build up to the day, also the PE staffwhose help on the day was invaluable.

Mr Couldwell,Mr Beardsley, Mr Collier, MP Nick Brownand Mr Ellott

COLLEGE..........................................................................................NEWS

English Department .....................................................................NEWS

Hutton Roof provided theperfect setting for our secondWriters’Retreat led by inspirational poet,Sheree Mack. Students in yearten spent three days in a ‘reteat’in The Lake District working ontheir creative writing; the writingproduced varied from somebeautiful and moving examplesof poetry to some very wellrafted prose.

The group were lucky enough tobe joined by published poet,Sheree Mack, who gave areading of her poetry andshared her experiences of writingwith our own year 10 writers. Timewas spent in workshops with ourpoet in residence, whileafternoons were spent both onthe crags surrounded byspectacular scenery, or in andaround Hutton Roof, workingon their

creative pieces. Students workedhroughout the day and on intothenight.

The final day of the retreat wastime for the writers to share theirwork as a group. There wereemotional readings from some ofthe writers; much of the poetryshared was influenced bySheree’s book ‘Family Al-bum’ and explored familyrelationships. Some of thepoetry was so poignant thesmallaudience of writers, poetsand teachers were movedto tears, while other piecesof writing, most notably theHaikus, were funny andentertaining and had theaudience laughing.

It was a privilege to spend timewith these ‘fresh, young voices’and hear the work theycreated. For some, the

experienceencouraged them tocontinue writing

outside of the classroom.For others, the experienceallowed them to gainconfidence in theirability and realise that writingdoesn’talways need to be functional. Itcan be a way of life.

There will be poetry readings fromour year 10 writers at this year’sEnglish ‘Charlton Awards’ held in

the main hall in July.

It’s that time of year again.Preparations areunderway for the next‘Walker’s Got Talent’ andrumour has it there are a

few new acts tochallenge last year’s winners. It’s

hard to believe we can get any better but, as ajudge, and having seen the auditions, I know thereare a few contenders this year.

It’s good to see a variety of acts and I’m excitedabout the possibilities for this year’s show. As always,rehearsals are kept closely under wraps by WGT’svisionary Miss Waugh. This year’s event is the perfectway to celebrate our first year in our new, purposebuilt, college.

The parent and child reading group meets on Thurs-days, in the library, at 3:30pm and lasts 45mins. Thereading group runs for six weeks, although parents arewelcome to sign up for the next cycle. The group hasshown the positive impact parental involvement hason your child’s reading age. English staff will work withyou and your child during the session and they willhelp to support parents with strategies they can imple-ment at home.

The next six week cycle will begin on Thursday 14th

June. If you are an interested parent, who would liketo support your child at home, please contact MissWaugh via the school contact details. Alternatively,your child can drop in to see Miss Waugh in roomE1.05 and sign up for the next cycle. Please make sureyou book so appropriate resources and refreshmentscan be provided.

Debating and presentational skills are a key aspect ofthe English course at Walker Technology College. Atthis year’s conference, led by Miss Hinshelwood,delegates were asked to present their ideas based onthe topical theme of the Olympics.

The selection who participated not only developedthe skills needed for college and the workplace, butthey were also able to improve their current grade forspeaking and listening as part of their GCSE in EnglishLanguage. Out students, yet again, demonstratedtheir ability to respond confidently in a pressured situa-tion and cope with the skills they will need to presentto a range of different audiences. We may even havethe next ‘Apprentice’ or the next entrepreneur readyto pitch in The Dragon’s Den.

English Department .....................................................................NEWS

During the week of 16 – 20 April I was luckyenough to be selected for a work place-ment with SiemensEnergy Service. I was part of a group ofYear 11 students from different schools to be giventhis opportunity. I think I was chosenbecause of my Curriculum Vitae and Ithink the company was impressed that Ihad already achieved a C pass in myMaths and that I am a verypractical, hands on type of student.

On my first day I felt really nervous butas the week went on I met newpeople and began to feel betterabout the placement.

Siemens is a global engineeringcompany that has a base in Walker onShields Road. I spent my time in theengineering training centre which is where Ilearnt about non- renewable andrenewable resources. I was also able tolearn about and develop skills withmetal. Over the week I made a drill drift,

engineers clamp and a key ring. I wasn’t allowed touse machinery because of health and safety but I

did use hand held tools. I reallyenjoyed theExperiencebecause it waspractical.

On my last day atSiemens Mr Hartturned up. I feltEmbarrassedbecause he was theonly teacher from anyof the schools takingpart to visit.

The placement mademe want to learnmore aboutengineering and Iwould like to thankSiemens for givingme the opportunityto show them what

I can do.

I didn’t want to leave – it was class!

Work experience week

A number of both staff and students took part in theRace for Life, a race for females to help raise muchneeded funds to help with  research into  cancerand cancer sufferers, at Saltwell Park on Sundaythe 14th May.

We arrived for the warm up with over 1000 femaleslimbering up to run, jog or walk 5km.  It was a seaof pink, with many havingmessages on their backs in memory of lovedones who have sadly suffered from thisawful disease.

Lauren Hindmarsh and Chelsie Hall, both Year11's raised over £400 between them and tookpart in the race for the first time.  They had funat the start getting involved in theaerobic warm up and then jogged the whole 5km's.

We hope that next year we can encourage morestaff and students to take part in this worthy event!Race for life

Fabulous new College jumpers

Student voice is active in Walker TechnologyCollege and because we listen to your views, wehave agreed to introduce a smart College jumper.The jumper will have the College logo on the chestand your School will be represented by a colouredline bordering the V neck.

A jumper can be ordered through your Form Teacheror Head of Year.

Only jumpers purchased through the College will bepermitted. The jumpers can be worn from theAutumn term, as a trial.

The following rules will apply:1. The jumper can only be purchased from theCollege2. The jumper will be black and have arecognised School colour on the V of the neck3. The jumper will be worn as well as, not insteadof, a blazer4. If the weather or College climate is too hot,the jumper is the first to be removed

We agree that a College jumper will look smart ifworn in the correct way. Sanctions may need to beintroduced if pupils do not follow the above

College rules regarding uniform.Many pupils have already signed up and ordered ajumper. If you agree to adhere to the rules aboveand would like to purchase a College jumper,please send the appropriate payment (see below)into College before the end of the summer term.

The form teacher will pass this on to Mrs Davidson.

On Thursday 22 March undergraduates from JesusCollege (CambridgeUniversity) visited WalkerTechnologyCollege to meet with thirty students in Years10 and 11. The tour ofNewcastle schoolshas taken place onanannual basis overseveral years but thiswas the first time thatthe College had hosteda visit.

The Cambridge under-graduates delivered a ses-sion called “UniversityExplained” and althoughthepresentation was about higher education in general,our students were also able to be informed and askquestions about what it is like to study at one of themost prestigious universities in the world.

These are some of the comments form the studentsin Year 10/11 who attended:

“The session was good. The students were nice andfriendly. It let me know about different types ofuniversities and what they are about. It let me knowabout the financial things of university and toremember to choose the subjects I like.”

“I liked this session as it was based in our schoolbuilding. I think it would be nice if a session abouthow you could use your degreeabroad/internationally was running in case peoplemove in the future. Would degrees still be valid inother countries? Can you apply for universities inother countries? If so – how? I learned a lot aboutuniversity, particularly the prices and finances.”

“From today’s session I learned that I should pickcourses that benefit my future.”

“Today I learned that if you get a degree from auniversity you can earn £180,000 more over yourlifetime.”

“I learned about the basics of university life. It washelpful to hear that the A levels I want to do/havebeen considering look good on university

applications.”

“Clearer understanding about gradesneeded for university.”

“I have found out that the subjectsthat I want to take will be reallyhelpful to my chosen career to bea primary school teacher.”

“There was lots of information thatI did not know about uni that Ican think about for the future. Ilearned about what subjects I

could take for A levels.”

“Lots of questions I had were answered, especiallyabout money and university fees. Maybe have moreinformation on good subjects to pick for A levels asthey can affect university places and we will bechoosing our A levels soon so it will be good to know.”

“The group really helped me understand what I needto do and look at in seeking my future career.”

“Today I learned that you might not have to pay asmuch as I thought for university.”

The undergraduates enjoyed their visit to Walker andthey were really impressed with all the students whoattended.

Jesus College Tour Visits WTC

Are you in Year 7 or 8?

Do you fancy bringing in a relative or carer torelax on a bean bag and read a great book?

Would you like to boost your grades at thesame time?

Then come along to ourReading Group!

Exclusive to Year 7 and Year 8.

(You get free tea, coffee and biscuits!But shhhh! Don’t tell anyone!)

Starts June 14thThursday 3.30pm - 4.15pm

in the library.

We currently have a vacancy for a Parent Governors. If any parent would like to discuss the work that isinvolved then pleasetelephone the Headmaster, Mr Mike Collier on 0191 2958660. If you are willing to be considered but donot know two parents who could propose you, then return the form with only the top part completed.

Name of person being nominated

Signature of nominee

Name and Form(s) of WalkerTechnology College Students(s)

Name of proposer

Signature of proposer

Name and Form(s) of WalkerTechnology College Student(s)

Name of seconder

Signature of seconder

Name and Form(s) of WalkerTechnology College Student(s)

Please return this form to:

Clerk to the GovernorsMrs Lisa KirkbrideWalker Technology CollegeMiddle StreetNewcastle upon TyneNE6 4BY

THE WORKS ......NEWS PAGEStudents from the construction departmenthave been using their new found skill's andput them to good use, they were asked ifthey couldrefurbish some wooden planters, alwaysready for a challenge they said yes and gotto work replacing damaged wood, sandingdamaged areas and gave them a goodcoating of wood stain.They have now been planted and takepride of place at the main entrance of theCollege.

BMX GroupThe BMX group wasestablished when a group ofyoung people from acrossthe city decided they wouldlike to challenge themselvesin achieving their aspirations,dreams and goals ofwidening their experienceswithin the Urban BMX scene.

The group have beenworking through an informaleducation programmecalled Keyfund which allowsyoung people to workthrough four stages offunding starting from £250 upto £2000.

They meet up each week atWalker Technology Collegeto plan and organise theirBMX programme. They havealready participated in theUrban Games 2012 launch

event and will involved in theBMX competitions that arebeing held in Newcastle City

Centre on the 17th,18th and

19th August as part of theUrban Games 2012.

The group have currentlysuccessfully passed the firststage and spent a full day ata Silksworth Skate Park. Theyalso purchased spare partsand a specialised bike tool kitto repair any damages thatoccur whilst riding.

The next plan with stage twoof Keyfund is to use their £500budget to go towards aresidential to a Skate Park inGlasgow called Unit 21.

The final goal is to purchaseportable Skate Park rampswhich will be available for all

young people to use withinthe east end area of thecommunity, so watch thisspace!

We visited a Skate Park in Sunderland because weare a BMX group called “The BMX Boys”. We raised£250 from the Keyfund for a full day to SilksworthSkate Park. Also with the money we bought spareparts and maintenance equipment which we willuse throughout the other stages. The day was ‘mint’as we shredded the full way.

We have made a group up called The BMX Boys.We have beenworking through a fundraisingprogramme called Keyfund. On the first stage wehave a budget of £250 to plan an activity and wechoose to go to

Silksworth Skate Park on the 5th of May. We alsobought some grips, pedals and chains with themoney. The day was great and we spent the fullday shredding the park.

We went to on a trip to Silksworth Skate Parkthat’s in Sunderland. We went for the full day,there was me (Zach), Connor, Daniel, Dean,Jack, Josh, Ryan, Joe and James.

It was a good day out the best bits were whenall of us were on the train we were all laughing.

All of the rest were all riding all day everyonewas shredding the park. Some more of the bestbits where when people were hurting them-selves (haha). We want to go to Corby,

Rampworks  or Unit 23 all bigger skate parks. Nexttime we will be working towards £500 we can use togo somewhere.

SPORT AT WALKER.............................................NEWS PAGE

Pupils involved in the 2012 GoldChallenge, enjoying swimmingaway the miles from the 2012kmteam target!

Walker TechnologyCollege students will use a varietyof activities within PE and extra-curricular events to clock up thetarget miles.

SPORT AT WALKER.............................................NEWS PAGE

As part of the Gold Challenge 5 of our students, MrClues and Mrs Kemp-Hardy visited London’s 2012Olympic Stadium. The students involved were:

Bethany Hosie, Rebecca Ingles, Michael GatesJordan McGregor and Tony Forrest

We set off at 5.30am (Mr Clues had bed hair!) It wasa 6 hour coach journey to reach our destination, butthe time just flew because Mr Clues’s jokes were sofunny (yawn!).

What was fantastic was seeing some of the childrenfrom our local primary schools on our bus. We all satwith children from Welbeck Primary School and theirteacher’s Mr Milburn and Mr Sands.

The sun was shining when we arrived and we were allgiven Newcastle Schools 500 tee-shirts to wear. Onentering the Stadium we took part in a paradearound the athletics track. Hundred’s of other schoolchildren watched as we took part in the parade andapplauded as we walked around.

The experience was amazing and gave pupils aninsight as to how proud athlete’s must feel torepresent their country at the Olympic games. Wethen watched some charity races on the track.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and thelong journey was worth it. We can watch theOlympic Games this summer and say ‘We’ve walkedon that track’.

The year 8 netball team had a fantastic season. They

reached the 3rd round of the County KnockoutLeague and only suffered 2 close defeats out of 12games to become runners up in the Newcastle City

Plate League. This league comprises of schools fromall over the city including private schools and makesthe achievement even greater.

All season the girls showed greatdetermination, commitment andstrong team spirit and fully deservethese results. The students haveworked hard now for 2 seasons andhave formed a close relationship as ateam and look set for more success inthe coming years if their great attitudeand ability continues. They are a pleas-ure to coach and a credit to theschool. Well done girls!!

Pictured is the team – Back row left toright – Chloe Rock, Cassie Hicks, Meg-an Currie, Katie Philipson, ChloeCampbell. Front row left to right –Paige Rushford, Hannah Stokes andSarah Louise Davidson.

On Monday 26th March 2012,students from 9M went to East EndPool to raise their bit for Sport Relief.All of the students did very well andswam around half a mile(32 lengths!). Our class raised agrand total of £109.40. Well done,Paul Allan, Connor Duffy, KatieHammond, CourtneyRamond and Kyle Wilson andthank you to all who sponsored us.

SPORT AT WALKER.............................................NEWS PAGE

As part of the Gold Challenge 5 of our students, MrClues and Mrs Kemp-Hardy visited London’s 2012Olympic Stadium. The students involved were:

Bethany Hosie, Rebecca Ingles, Michael GatesJordan McGregor and Tony Forrest

We set off at 5.30am (Mr Clues had bed hair!) It wasa 6 hour coach journey to reach our destination, butthe time just flew because Mr Clues’s jokes were sofunny (yawn!).

What was fantastic was seeing some of the childrenfrom our local primary schools on our bus. We all satwith children from Welbeck Primary School and theirteacher’s Mr Milburn and Mr Sands.

The sun was shining when we arrived and we were allgiven Newcastle Schools 500 tee-shirts to wear. Onentering the Stadium we took part in a paradearound the athletics track. Hundred’s of other schoolchildren watched as we took part in the parade andapplauded as we walked around.

The experience was amazing and gave pupils aninsight as to how proud athlete’s must feel torepresent their country at the Olympic games. Wethen watched some charity races on the track.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and thelong journey was worth it. We can watch theOlympic Games this summer and say ‘We’ve walkedon that track’.

SPORT AT WALKER.............................................NEWS PAGE

Walker Technology College hosted a primary year3 football festival on Tuesday 1st May on ourAstroturf pitch

Primary Notice board

Mrs Kemp-Hardy prayed for dryweather after a week of heavy rainand high winds…..and her prayerswere answered, hurrah!

There were 3 schools that attended inthe morning slot and 4 schools in theafternoon. These schools were:

Byker Primary SchoolWalkergate Primary SchoolTyneview Primary SchoolWestern Primary SchoolSt Anthony’s Church Of EnglandPrimary SchoolWest Walker Primary SchoolWharrier Street Primary School

All the year 3 children taking part hada fantastic time and thoroughlyenjoyed themselves. All the primaryteachers remarked at how wellorganised the event was and what acredit to the school the studentsrunning the activities were. Of course,Mr Elliott’s expertise in the ‘beautifulgame’ also made the day!

Walker Technology College studentsthat were involved in running eachactivity station were some year12 and13 BTEC sport pupils that are currentlyinvolved in the sports leader’s award.In the afternoon event an extraactivity station was added and ran byyear 8 boys involved in the Sky Sport’sLiving for Sport project.

I can’t praise our students enough andwithout them the event could nothave taken place. Our pupils wereexceptional role models who lead byexample. Their leadership skills wereput to the test, as many only had expe-rience of leading their peers.

The festival included various aspectsof football skills, including dribblingpractices, shooting practices, agilitystations and mini games. The pupilsmoved around each station to experi-ence every aspect of football.

It is proposed with the success of thecurrent year 5/6 mini league that asfrom September we will set up a year3/4 mini league.

A huge thank you again to all involved.Oh and a special mention to MarkEdge. The teacher from Byker PrimarySchool approached me to tell mehow Mark had been so thoughtful.One of his pupils was feeling unwelland Mark took himself off to the schoolcafeteria and bought the little boy abottle of water, with his own money.Such unprompted acts of kindnessmake me so proud of our school andthe pupils we teach.

Walker Technology College hosted a primary year3 football festival on Tuesday 1st May on our

As part of a national campaign,Walker Technology College wasinvolved in a workshop with the ShowRacism the Red Card charity.

The charity is all about anti- racism andis backed by the professionalfootballers association; it is run nationwide and delivers workshops to avariety of groups including schools,colleges, professional football clubsand local boys clubs.

We used our full year 8 group for thisevent, this was nearly 170 students.The College was lucky enough tohave former Newcastle United players,Olivier Bernard and John Andersonwith us for the full day, to providesome fun games and encourage thestudents to interact with each other.We also had 2 members of the Racismteam who dealt with the educationaland classroom side of the workshop.The students were split into small

groups so they could experience allthe different aspects of the workshop.

The day ended with a whole grouptalk in, hosted by Olivier and John.During this time both of them sharedtheir experiences from their playingdays, they also answered many greatquestions that were asked by students.Our students felt very privileged tohave been given this greatopportunity to ask questions and sharesome stories.

This is a workshop that the College wasvery proud to have been involvedwith. We also see the hugeimportance of making our students,and the whole community, aware ofthe issues we have in modern societyconcerning racism.